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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23792464">Slowing Down</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account'>orphan_account</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Little Verse [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>My Chemical Romance</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Age Regression/De-Aging, Coping mechanism, Little Space, M/M, Non-Sexual Age Play, not sexual</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 22:34:33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,664</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23792464</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Frank had asked Mikey about it when he first found Gerard sitting in their apartment with a pacifier in his mouth.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Frank Iero/Gerard Way</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Little Verse [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1719784</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>90</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Slowing Down</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightsinthefloors/gifts">lightsinthefloors</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So I had no idea that age regression was a thing even though I was a psychology major for three years. Nottherealryanrosss brought it up and of course that sent me into a 24hr research binge including reading all the age regression fics I could find on this website. The important thing I want to stress is that THIS IS NOT A KINK, it's a coping mechanism for people dealing with stress or trauma. </p>
<p>I know this isn't going to sit well with everyone, and that's ok. If you don't vibe with this story, cool, peace out and check out some of my other fics. Don't be close minded and judgey and don't leave hate comments. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Frank smiles as Gerard stumbles into the living room, the blanket he was carrying getting caught under his feet a few times. Frank stretches out on the couch and holds his arms out for him. Gerard curls up next to him on the couch and slips his thumb in his mouth.</p>
<p><br/>
Frank sighs and taps his thumb, swapping it out for a pink sparkly pacifier instead. Gerard smiles around it and pulls his blanket up against his face, rubbing the soft material against his cheek.</p>
<p><br/>
“Better, little one?” He murmurs.</p>
<p><br/>
Gerard nods and nuzzles against Frank’s chest.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Frank had asked Mikey about it when he first found Gerard sitting in their apartment with a pacifier in his mouth.</p>
<p>Gerard had jumped when he noticed that Frank was standing in the doorway, eyes twisted in confusion. He wasn’t shocked really, he was used to Gerard doing out there things. He knew what he was getting himself into when he decided to date Mikey’s hermit artsy brother. But, usually odd to him was Gerard bringing home mannequins to cover in red paint or building a tunnel city in their living room when they didn’t even have a hamster (one day, Gerard vowed). So, Frank rarely comes home shocked anymore. But, he wasn’t sure how to handle this one.</p>
<p>“Hey, Gee,” he finally said softly, wondering if this was some sort of character he was acting out. He did that every now and then, especially when he was working on a comic. He sometimes would get so invested that he would become one of his characters for a bit. Frank remembers that time Gerard bleached his hair to look ill like a hospital patient in his dark comic about death and the search of redemption.</p>
<p>Gerard hadn’t said anything back to Frank, just took in Frank’s expression and then laid back down on the couch to watch his cartoons.</p>
<p>Frank had pulled the throw off the back of the couch and covered Gerard up, kissing his forehead. “I’ll be right back,” he murmured and his heart swelled at the look Gerard had given him, full of love and trust. Frank exhaled shakily, coming to the conclusion that this wasn’t a character. He went into their bedroom and called Mikey.</p>
<p>“He hasn’t done that in years,” Mikey had said softly, voice dripping in wonder.</p>
<p>“Done what?” Frank pressed.</p>
<p>“Gone to a little space,” Mikey answered, which only made Frank have more questions.</p>
<p>He sat on the bed, talking to Mikey for an hour.</p>
<p>Gerard regressed to a younger age when he was anxious or stressed, Mikey had told him. It started when Gerard was in art school and the pressure to be great was too much. He had come home one day and curled up next to Mikey, put his thumb in his mouth and stopped talking. And Mikey just got it. He didn’t know any of the technical terms at the time, or really how to support Gerard when he was in his little space, but they worked through it. Gerard knew that he could come to Mikey when he was little and didn’t have to worry about being judged.</p>
<p>“He slips into his little space when he just wants to not think for a while,” Mikey explained, “He just wants to go back to a time when everything was taken care of for him.”So, Frank had hung up the phone and went back into the living room. Gerard looked up at him with hesitant eyes, then reached out for him. Frank smiled gently at him and sat next to him on the couch.</p>
<p>“Hey, little one,” he murmured, stroking his hair.</p>
<p>Gerard had sighed happily and closed his eyes, relaxing into Frank’s touch.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Gerard lets his pacifier fall out of his mouth and mumbles, “Story.”</p>
<p>Frank smiles and puts the pacifier back in his mouth before picking him up. He carries him to their guest bedroom and sets him down on the bed. He goes over to the bookcase where they keep his little books.</p>
<p>“Velveteen Rabbit again?” Frank asks, looking up at Gerard who nods.</p>
<p>Frank pulls out the book and settles on the bed next to Gerard.</p>
<p>He rests his head on Frank’s shoulder and reaches out to open the book.</p>
<p>Frank laughs gently. “Impatient tonight?”</p>
<p>Gerard nods and points at the first sentence, smiling when Frank starts reading. Frank loves storytime with Gerard. Likes watching Gerard trace the pictures with his fingers and nuzzle against his chest at his favorite parts.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>It wasn’t a sexual thing.</p>
<p>Gerard made sure that was the first thing that Frank understood. And, yeah Frank had been a little worried that this would make things weird in their bedroom.</p>
<p>“It doesn’t happen often,” Gerard reassured him, “I’m pretty good at keeping myself from regressing. I-I’m good at hiding it too.”</p>
<p>Frank frowned.</p>
<p>“Have you regressed since we’ve been together?”</p>
<p>That was a tough question, since they had just celebrated their fourth anniversary a couple weeks back. The look in Gerard’s eyes confirmed his suspicion, but he wanted to hear it. “Gerard?”</p>
<p>“Yes,” he answered quietly.</p>
<p>Frank sighed and sat up on the counter of their kitchen. He held out his arms, “Come here.”</p>
<p>Gerard hesitated, guilt painted heavily on his face, but came over to hide his face in Frank’s chest.</p>
<p>“I don’t want you to hide from me,” Frank whispered, “When I decided to get into this with you, I chose all of you. All the good and all the odd.” He brought his hand up to rub the back of Gerard’s neck, “And I love the odd.”</p>
<p>“You’re not freaked out?”</p>
<p>“It’s a coping mechanism,” Frank said, “At least that’s how Mikey explained it.”</p>
<p>Gerard nodded, not upset that Frank had talked to Mikey about it. It was better for him to explain it than Gerard, since he really didn’t understand it much himself. “It just gets to be too much sometimes.”</p>
<p>Frank wanted to ask what about their life is too much for him to take. He thought their life was pretty great. Yeah, they fought, but they always had the best makeup sex followed by long, sweet kisses until they fell asleep. Gerard had a great job where he got to work from home and do commission work with his art. Frank would come home from working at the record label and they’d make dinner together or they’d order take out yet again. It was a relatively quiet life.</p>
<p><br/>
But the more Frank thought about it, the more he became rational and knew it had nothing to do with the life they’ve built together. He knew that Gerard had a rough past. That he had struggled with addiction, still did when they would go to a show that was at a bar. He knew that sometimes Gerard slipped into a darker part of his mind and it scared him when he went there. So, if Gerard wanted to go to a little place instead, Frank was going to encourage it any way he could.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Frank watches as Gerard’s eyes get heavier and eventually close.</p>
<p>He shuts their book, never really reaching the end, and setting it on the floor. He holds Gerard for a moment, loving these moments with him.</p>
<p>Where everything is easy and still.</p>
<p>He had been so worried in the beginning. He didn’t know how to fit this part of Gerard into their relationship, and kept wanting to compartmentalize it into a different part of their lives. Some parts they did keep separate, it was the reason why they never went into their bedroom when Gerard was little. They kept his books, blanket, and stuff animals in the guest room so that it wouldn’t bleed into their relationship. But, he knew that this wasn’t separated from their relationship, not really. It was just another extension of it. This was them slowing down. And he was learning that it was for both Gerard and his benefit.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Gerard had been adamant that he did not want Frank to be his caregiver. He had been perfectly fine going in and out of his little space by himself. He had strategies to get himself to age back up when he needed to. Specifically, whenever Frank would come home.</p>
<p>“You didn’t when I came home the other day,” Frank had whispered.</p>
<p>Gerard blushed, stubborn as always.</p>
<p>“Let me help you,” he had insisted softly.</p>
<p>“I want you to be my boyfriend, not my caregiver,” Gerard said.</p>
<p>“I can be both,” Frank said, “We can have seperation.”</p>
<p>Gerard hesitated, then, “There needs to be rules.”</p>
<p>The first rule was that they wouldn’t go into their bedroom when Gerard was little. Frank had read up on the difference between age regression and having a daddy kink and he knew that what Gerard went through was definitely not for sexual reasons. But, it was more than that. Gerard needed to have a cozier environment when he was little, somewhere to escape to so that reminders of his adult life wouldn’t ruin his headspace.</p>
<p>The second rule was that if Frank couldn’t yell at Gerard when he was in little space. It wasn’t that Frank was an angry person, he just got too emotional sometimes. He was horrible at regulating his emotions, so when he got frustrated he would let it out. But after he had raised his voice at Gerard when he was little for spilling a cup of grape juice on their couch, he vowed never again. He still flinches when he remembers how Gerard’s face just crumbled and he ran into his room and sobbed into the dinosaur comforter.</p>
<p>And the last rule was that Frank didn’t have to act as a caregiver when Gerard was little if he wasn’t up for it. And sometimes, he didn’t. Gerard was good about keeping himself comforted when he was in his little space without Frank if he needed to. He would sit on the kitchen floor and color through the coloring books that Frank would bring home. Or he would put on cartoons in the living room and lay down with his blanket and pacifier. Frank would just smile at him and go back to his book or whatever it was he felt that he needed to do for himself. That was the reason for this rule, Gerard didn’t want Frank to put himself second just because Gerard had a different way of coping than most people.</p>
<p>And for the most part, it worked.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Frank slips out of bed, pulling the dinosaur comforter up and tucking Gerard in.</p>
<p>He pauses for a moment to take in Gerard’s peaceful face, free from worry lines creased on his forehead or the downward pull of his lips. He’s been working on too many commission projects lately, Mikey has been calling too much about his quarter life crisis, and his five year sobriety is coming up. Frank’s come home to find Gerard in a little space almost every night this week and they had spent all day Saturday on the couch watching cartoons and finger painting.</p>
<p>He caresses Gerard’s cheek with the back of his fingers before slipping out of the room quietly, closing the door just halfway so that he could hear if Gerard needed him.</p>
<p>Dinners when Gerard is little are usually less involved than their dinners on other nights. He decides to make chicken nuggets and broccoli. He laughs to himself a bit because the only way to get Gerard to eat his vegetables is when he’s little. Then he has some sort of an upper hand and can bribe him with chocolate chip cookies. He grins and throws some fries in the oven, because he’s not a complete dick.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>There are days that are hard on Frank when Gerard is in his little space.</p>
<p>Sometimes Gerard’s sadness doesn’t lighten up when he regresses, and it is only more amplified by his emotional immaturity.</p>
<p>Those days Gerard is more whiny and not the sweet little one who wants to snuggle. He’s bratty and tosses bottles of paint when he doesn’t get his picture the way he wants it, argues with Frank over which stuff animal he actually wanted, and refuses to eat the dinner that Frank made because it’s “yucky”.</p>
<p>On a particularly rough night, Frank had told Gerard to go to bed because he would either sleep and wake up in a less cranky mood or he would wake up big again and they could talk about whatever was bothering Gerard as adults.</p>
<p>Gerard had just plopped down on the kitchen floor and wailed.</p>
<p>“Hey, hey,” Frank had murmured, pulling Gerard into his arms. “Shh, little one, you’re alright.”</p>
<p>“Frankie,” he had sobbed.</p>
<p>They decided early on that while Frank would act like a caretaker sometimes, he was never “daddy”, that just weirded Frank out. When Gerard was little he always called Frank, “Frankie” and it was cute and had enough separation that they wanted.</p>
<p>“Easy, deep breaths,” Frank whispered, rubbing his back. “Come on, sweetie, deep breathes.”</p>
<p>Gerard hiccuped his way through a couple deep breaths with Frank, then Frank asked, “What’s going on, Gee?”</p>
<p>Gerard had sniffled and rubbed at his eyes. “I’m sad.”</p>
<p>Frank wanted to ask why Gerard was sad, but he was sure that little Gerard wouldn’t be able to answer anyway. So he just took Gerard’s pacifier out of his jeans pocket and gave it to him. Gerard took it happily and laid his head on Frank’s shoulder as he rocked them back and forth on the kitchen floor.</p>
<p>When Gerard had woken up the next day big again he crawled into their bed with Frank and mumbled, “I’m sorry.”</p>
<p>Frank stroked his hair. “I don’t want you to feel sad when you’re little. That’s the point, right? Just let those emotions go, Gerard, let me feel them for you instead. Let me take care of you.”</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>Gerard comes into the kitchen wrapped up in his blanket.</p>
<p>“Hey, sleepyhead,” Frank murmurs, turning away from the stove and wrapping his arms around Gerard. Gerard hums and nuzzles against him, then wrinkles his nose.</p>
<p>“Ew, broccoli.”</p>
<p>Frank laughs, “There’s chicken nuggets and fries too. And if you eat your broccoli, there’s cookies.”</p>
<p>Gerard considers this, then sighs and goes to sit at the table to wait.</p>
<p>Frank tries to hide his laughter at Gerard for trying to chew his broccoli quickly so he didn’t have to taste it, then he happily munches on his chicken nuggets and fries.</p>
<p>After dinner and too many chocolate chip cookies later, they lay on the couch with Gerard resting his head in Frank’s lap. Frank rubs Gerard’s stomach, settling down the gurgly noises.</p>
<p>“Maybe the cookies were a bad idea,” Frank muses</p>
<p>Gerard just giggles and stretches out, content and happy.</p>
<p>As the movie plays, Frank notices Gerard starting to come out of his headspace. It took him a while to notice the signs at first. He would jump when Gerard would start talking in full sentences again. But now, he sees the slow progression on Gerard’s face.How his glazy eyes become clearer and sharp, his mouth no longer holds a pacifier and quirks up to the side in his typical half-smile-half-smirk, and his shoulder hunch over more. Frank watches Gerard sit up and scoot over to the other end of the couch, letting himself come back to his adult mind slowly. It bothered Frank at first when Gerard would withdraw from him after being so clingy as a little. But that was sort of the point, Frank assumes, Gerard was trying to remember how he should act around Frank again. At first, it took Gerard a few hours to gather himself and be the guy that Frank fell in love with.</p>
<p>Now, it doesn’t take him long, just until the movie ends.</p>
<p>He leans over and gives Frank a kiss.</p>
<p>“I’m still mad at you for making me broccoli,” he says.</p>
<p>Frank just kisses his smile.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Seriously, if you like this fic or any of the fics in this verse you should really check out Nottherealryanrosss since I got the inspiration from her. She writes the sweetest stories &lt;3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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